The _Turkestan Gazette_ still adhered to its original statement that
Yakoob Beg had died of fever on the 1st of May, after an illness of
seven days' duration, and that on the 13th of May the body was brought
in state from Korla to Kashgar for the purpose of being deposited in the
mausoleum of Appak Khoja. Then, according to the _Turkestan Gazette_,
there ensued one of those atrocious deeds which have so often marked the
history of Central Asian states. The second son of the dead Ameer, Hacc
Kuli Beg, who had been with him during his last moments, escorted the
funeral cortége, and was met at a short distance from the city by his
elder brother, Kuli Beg. The elder son at once knelt before his father's
coffin, and then rising, without a moment's delay fired a pistol at his
brother, who dropped down dead. Not content with this fratricide, Kuli
Beg had the whole of the escort put to the sword, and returned to
Kashgar with his own followers escorting the coffin. We know nothing
whatever of the reasons for this atrocious act, but the fact of Kuli Beg
being in Kashgar, and not in the east, shows how Hakim Khan was able to
establish his authority in Kucha and Korla. It will be more convenient
to consider in another chapter the further course of these internal
troubles, and also the final triumph of the Chinese.
There are, therefore, two versions of how Yakoob Beg met his death, and
in support of each view there is a certain amount of evidence. All the
information on the subject has been recorded, and it is conflicting. The
Chinese reports in the _Pekin Gazette_ ignore the subject altogether.
Their personal hatred was directed more against Bayen Hu, a Tungan
leader who had fled from Hamil some years before, than against the
Athalik Ghazi. Of the main fact that Yakoob Beg died at Korla in May,
1877, there is no doubt, and that the most eventful career that has
marked its track in the history of Central Asia for several generations
was then brought to a close.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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